Public/Private Partnerships Launch Careers

MASCO and the Boston Private Industry Council Continue Successful Employment Partnership with High School Teens.

“We’ve been proud partners with PIC (the Boston Private Industry Council) for more than eight years now,” explains Gary Dupont, MASCO’s Director of Telecommunications and the MASCO Services, Inc., Call Center. “I discovered the PIC in a rather auspicious manner – I saw a billboard on the Massachusetts Turnpike for the PIC, and I called them and asked how we could support their mission,” explains Gary. “It’s been a great relationship ever since!”

The Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) is a nonprofit organization that strengthens Boston’s communities and its workforce by connecting youth and adults with education and employment opportunities that align with the needs of area employers. Their work is grounded in the belief that meaningful employment changes lives, lifts people out of poverty, and strengthens the local economy.

This summer, MASCO is proud to have seven extraordinary young women join its telecommunications staff, and they all plan to keep their positions when they begin their college studies this fall.

Ivanna Santos (left) and Andrea Martinez, Boston Latin School classmates and 2018 graduates, will both attend UMASS Boston this fall and major in nursing. “The opportunity to hit the ground running in a field that deals predominately with the medical profession was immediately intriguing for me,” explains Ivanna. “I’m learning all new terminology and working the busy call center forces me to analyze a situation and think quickly and clearly in a short period of time,” she added. Andrea, who plans to go into emergency medicine nursing, says “We learned a lot about time management at BLS, and we are able to put those skills to good work here in the center where we manage hundreds of calls in a single shift.”

As the city’s school-to-career intermediary, the PIC convenes multi-sector collaborations, connects employers with schools and students with jobs and internships, measures progress on key indicators such as dropout rates and college completion rates, and sustains the effort to create career pathways for students and talent pipelines for employers.

“We generally hire from Boston Latin School or Boston Latin Academy, and the students work full-time during the summer, with the understanding that they must be going to college locally and pursuing a degree in a health-related field. Once ensconced in college life, they can work up to 30-hours per month.

It’s always an exciting time to have new students join us who are so very focused and determined to do well, learn and pursue their professional degrees. They bring a renewed energy to the Call Center, and we have been very fortunate to have such an exceptional group of students this summer,” added Gary J. DuPont, Director, Telecommunications and Call Center Operations.

Many of MASCO’s members partner with PIC for job training and development including Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University, Simmons College and Mass Eye and Ear.

MASCO Services Call Center was established more than 40 years ago to meet the answering service needs of hospitals and physicians. Since then, their exceptional customer service has earned a number of awards and attracted customers that include internationally renowned hospitals, neighborhood health centers, more than 150 physician practices, acclaimed colleges, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, property management organizations, attorneys, and businesses. On average the center answers more than 1 million calls annually.